By the time we got back to the compound, I had to leave to pick Eli up.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I turned in my seat, facing Ty.
Ty’s eyes met mine, there was something hidden in their depths that I couldn’t quite make out. A gentle smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
I snorted. “Yeah. Okay.” I reached for the door handle.
“No.” His hand wrapped round my arm, soft and firm. “Really.”
I faced him, brows raised.
“Oh yeah? What’s so incredible?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “There’s just something about you that-” He shook his head and let go of my arm.
He looked torn, like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. I leaned back in my seat and watched his fingers as they started to drum on the steering wheel. I’d noticed that he had several different ‘finger drums’. The first was a relaxed one, he did this mostly when we were in the office.
The second one was a little faster, mainly when he watched someone, or was thinking about something.
The third, the one he was doing now was a new one. Erratic.
“Ty,” I whispered. He faced me, his eyes full of confusion.
We stayed like that for several more minutes. Staring into each other eyes, neither of us moving.
“Kay,” he said on a breath, his eyes dipping to my lips.
I was entranced, couldn’t move even if I wanted to. There was nothing but us, nothing else existed.
He moved forward, his tongue tracing along his bottom lip, I watched it slide out and imagined how it would feel to have his lips touch mine.
My phone buzzed with my alarm, signaling that is was time to pick Eli up.
I stared wide eyed at him then scrambled to get out of the car.
“Kay,” Ty reached for me, I dodged him and nearly fell out of the stupid SUV.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked.
What was I thinking? How had I forgotten all about Max and Eli?
I stumbled to my car and tried to get the key in the lock three times before I could unlock it. I heard his boots crunch against the gravel as he moved toward me.
I started the car just as he came into sight. Pushing the car into reverse, I drove out of there.
My hands shook most of the way to pick Eli up. The worst part about it was that I had wanted to kiss him. To see how his lips felt against mine. I tried to tell myself it was because I hadn’t been kissed in so long, at least not the way I wanted to be kissed, but that wasn’t the truth.
The truth was that I had just wanted to. I wanted to feel his lips against mine, I wanted to know how his hands would feel as he cupped my face.
My mind whirled with thoughts the whole way to the preschool. I couldn’t even remember how I got here. It was all a blur.
“Did you have a nice day?” I asked Eli once we were on our way back to the apartment.
“Yeah.” He looked out the window. “Can we go to the park?”
I checked the time.
“Not today, sweetie, maybe Saturday?”
“Okay.”
He looked upset, but he would talk about it when he was ready. There was no pushing Eli, if I pushed too hard he’d clam up and I’d never know what was wrong.
We were both silent the rest of the way. My thoughts wouldn’t stop churning around in my head. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing?
I couldn’t see what someone like him would see in someone like me. Either way, he didn’t know the real me.
The broken me. The liar.
How could he think I was incredible? I was far from it.
I’d told so many lies over the last couple of years that sometimes I didn’t know whether they were lies or actually the truth.
The only thing that made me get up in the morning was Eli, without him I honestly didn’t know what I would have done. I was so far from who I used to be that it felt like someone else’s life that I remembered. That fun, bubbly, girl was a distant memory. One I’d never get back.
“Mama?”
“Hmm?”
“Why is dad here?” I snapped my head to the side.
“I don’t know sweetie,” I said, panicked and staring wide eyed as I turned the car off.
Max stood against his car, one knee bent as he watched us. His eyes narrowed and his posture stiff. When they met mine he smiled and pushed up off his car.
I jumped out of the car and undid Eli’s belt.
“Hey, baby.” He flung his arm around my shoulders after I closed the door, he steered me toward the apartment. I held my hand out for Eli, his little hand clutched mine the same way that I clutched his.
“Been somewhere nice?”
“Huh?” I looked down. “Oh, no. I… Just thought I’d try something new.” I hadn’t even thought about him seeing my work clothes.
“Mmmm, If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you’ve been somewhere today.”
My throat went dry as he held the door open. I walked behind Eli up the stairs, Max following behind me.
“But I know you wouldn’t do that, would you?” I shook my head as we turned to the next set of stairs. “You’re a good girl, and good girls listen.”
I held my hands behind Eli as he stumbled. “Careful, sweetie”
“Don’t they,” he murmured in my ear.
“Yes,” I croaked.
He didn’t say anything the rest of the way up.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him why he was home so early. He never came home this early.
“Can I watch TV?” Eli asked when I opened the door.
“Yes, of course you can, sweetie.” I followed him in the living room and switched it on.
“Let’s go out.” Max said when I walked into the kitchen. I opened the fridge to see what I could cook for dinner. Max was never here when I cooked dinner, it felt so wrong for him to be here.
“What?”
“I wanna take you out.” He wrapped his arms round my waist from behind and nuzzled his face into my neck.
Flashbacks from a week ago when he pushed me against the fridge assaulted my mind. The swelling had gone down but the bruise was still there. Max hadn’t even mentioned it, not that I expected him to. He probably didn’t even remember doing it in the first place.
“What about a baby sitter?” I asked.
“That old bat down the hall can watch him.”
“Max.” I spun round. “Please don’t call her that.”
His eyes flashed a warning. “Just go and ask her.” He stepped back, tapped my butt and walked out of the kitchen.
I heard the pipes groan a couple of seconds later.
Guess we were going out.
*~*~*
I stumbled toward the door unsure of whether this was a good thing or not. Max hadn’t ever suggested that Miss Maggie watch Eli, he hadn’t hidden the fact that he couldn’t stand her. If he found out that we didn’t just talk to each other in passing, I didn’t want to think about how he would react.
I rapped my knuckles on Miss Maggie’s door and opened it.
“Miss Maggie?”
“In here, dear.” I shut the door behind me and twisted my fingers.
“You okay?” I asked when I walked in the living room.
“Yes, of course, dear.” She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
“Well, err…the thing is.” I sat on the edge of the couch.
“Spit it out.” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“Could you watch Eli for a couple of hours?” I looked anywhere but at her, Henry trotted into the room from the hallway and stared at me looked at the door and sat watching it.
“Sure.”
“Max wants to take me out, and he suggested I ask you to watch Eli,” I rambled on.
“That’s nice.” She patted my hand and I looked up.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“You sure that everything’s okay?
” I stared at her with my mouth open.
I wanted to tell her that everything was changing. That my world no longer revolved around Max and Eli, that since I’d been working nothing felt the same. The thought of spending time alone with Max terrified me, I didn’t want to live the way that I had been living the last few years.
I wanted to feel like I was doing something good in my life and not just waiting around for Max to correct me when I did something wrong.
And Ty. I didn’t want to think about Ty.
But he was all I could think about.
I shook my head, closed my mouth and stood. There was no way that I would tell her any of that, instead I said, “Everything is fine.”
“Okay, dear, if you’re sure.”
“I am.” I smiled.
“Do you want to bring Eli over here?”
“Yes, I’ll give him some dinner then bring him over.” I kissed her cheek and let myself out.
Max was sitting next to Eli when I came back from Miss Maggie’s, he waved me off and told me to go and make Eli something to eat. I hesitated but when Eli smiled at me I left them to it. It was nice to see them bonding even if it was just watching TV.
They didn't get the chance often; more times than not Eli was in bed when Max came home. When Eli was a baby, Max had doted on him but, as the years went by, something had changed. Max barely talked to him now and as much as I wanted them to have a good relationship, I couldn’t help but feel it was better that Max was distant.
There was less of a chance that Eli would do something wrong.
I made Eli his dinner, sat in the kitchen while he ate it and then took him to get changed.
“Eli?” I pulled out some pajamas as he came into his bedroom.
“Yeah, mama?”
I sat on the edge of his bed and blew out a breath. I had this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“You be good for Miss Maggie, okay?”
“I will, mama.”
He pulled on his pajamas, shoved his feet into his slippers and waited while I gathered up his blanket off the end of his bed.
“I'm just going to take Eli over,” I said to Max as I passed him in the hallway.
“Okay, baby.” He smiled and winked.
I smiled back and took Eli’s hand.
Henry was still sat in the same place when we walked in, he jumped up onto Eli’s lap as soon as he sat down.
“Thanks for doing this, Miss Maggie.”
“Hush now, child, you know I love to spend time with Eli,” she said and waved her hand at me.
I loved that Eli had someone that resembled a grandma. Sure, he had Max's parents but he hardly saw them, and my dad hadn’t even met him.
“I’ll see you later.” I planted a kiss on Eli's head and walked out of the living room.
The door clicked behind me, I didn't have time to make it back to our apartment before Max came out.
His blue polo shirt and jeans told me that we weren’t going anywhere fancy. Not that I had expected that. His dark hair still wet from his shower was slicked back.
His eyes held something that had my stomach tumbling.
Max extended his hand and I placed mine in his. He didn’t let go until we were at the car, I opened my door and slid into the passenger side.
“So, where are we going?” I asked as he started the car.
He turned his head and grinned big and wide. “It's a surprise.”
I hated surprises and he knew that, I turned away as he drove off from the apartment block.
It wasn’t until fifteen minutes later that I recognized where we were. I took the same route to work each day, passed the same row of shops and turned at the private road that he just drove past. There was no way that Max could have known that I had a job. I’d been really careful; today had been the only time he had seen me in what I wore for work.
He drove for another couple of minutes after going past the compound, and pulled into the parking lot of a bar.
“A buddy told me about this place,” he said as he got out of the car.
I stayed silent as he led us inside. We walked through the doors, the smell of food wafted around me making my stomach grumble.
The right side of the room was set up with pool tables, a bar ran across the back wall and seating spread all around.
People were eating and laughing, the atmosphere alive. The corner of my mouth lifted as a waitress showed us to our seats.
She sat us on the far side, furthest away from the bar.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water please,” I said as Max said, “Beer.”
I bit my lip to keep from saying something, held up the menu and scanned what there was.
“Wings are meant to be good here,” Max said. “My buddy says they’re the best in a fifty-mile radius.”
“That’s nice,” I said.
The waitress came back with the drinks, placed them on the table and pulled out a small pad.
“Are you ready to order?”
“I’ll have the burger, side of wings.”
“Burger as well please,” I said and handed her the menu.
I couldn’t help but feel I was being watched so I looked up and started to scan the room. I stopped at the bar, as a set of chocolate brown eyes stared back at me.
Ty.
Chapter Ten
My breath caught in my throat as his eyes narrowed. I couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. He stepped forward, and for a second I wanted him to come over to me, to talk to me in the only way he could. He had this way of calming me.
Then I came to my senses, I panicked and shot up from the table. The drinks toppling, I reached for my glass of water at the same time that Max grabbed his beer.
“What the-”
“Just going to the…” I looked around for any excuse. “Bathroom.” I walked off before he could reply.
I had to walk past the bar to get to there.
Ty watched every step that I took, his eyes warmed me in a way that was not good. He smirked, his eyes flashed. I knew what that meant and I honestly didn’t know if I could hold myself back this time.
It was wrong to feel anything for somebody other than Max, but I couldn’t help myself. I already felt like I was living two lives; one with Max and one at work.
I wore a mask in front of everyone, Max was the only one who saw the true me, the broken me and the bad me. I wasn’t a good person, I knew that and Max knew that. He was the only one who told me, who was honest with me.
I tilted my head at Ty as I walked past, hoping he would follow but not talk until we were out of sight. I was half way down the darkened hallway when his hand gripped my arm and shoved me through a door.
Mops and cleaning supplies were strewn about, the smell of bleach stung my nose.
“What are you doing here?” Ty asked.
“Max brought me out.” I shrugged and daring to glance up at him.
“No, Kay. What are we doing here?” He pointed to the floor.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what was actually going on. I didn’t want him to think less of me. If I told him, I didn’t know what he would do. I’d only worked with him for two weeks and I hadn’t once seen him angry. I hated the thought that I could be on the receiving end of his anger.
“Ty…” I stepped back.
I didn’t want him to know I had lied. What would he think if he knew that one lie out of my mouth always turned into another and then another? That was the thing with lying, to cover the first lie you always had to lie again and then to cover that lie…you get it.
You also had to have a really good memory, because if you couldn’t remember what you’d lied about in the first place then you would slip up.
“The thing is…”
Ty smirked, he could see how uncomfortable I was, it wasn’t just that I was about to lie…again. It was being stuck in such a small space with Ty. He sucked all the air out of the room with his presence.
“Yeah,” he drawled, his feet moved toward me. I couldn’t move, mesmerized by his eyes and the gold flecks that flashed.
“The thing…” I gasped as his hand cupped the side of my face.
I couldn’t concentrate when he was touching me.
My stomach dipped, you know that feeling when you go over a big bump in the road?
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
He moved closer, not one part of his body touched mine only his hand on my face. I had to dip my head back to look at him from this close.
“All I’ve been able to think about is you…” He closed the last bit of space. “And those lips…”
I wanted to tell him that was all I had been able to think about. That I couldn’t get the image of his lips touching mine out of my head.
Three seconds. That’s how long we stood and stared at each other, neither of us moving. It was the longest three seconds of my life.
Then his lips slammed down onto mine.
He was firm but gentle at the same time, he kissed me once, then twice, before his tongue swept along my bottom lip.
It made me dizzy with desire and I couldn’t hold back any longer. I needed to do this.
Just this once. If I got it out of my system then maybe I’d be able to move on.
I opened my mouth and swiped my tongue against his, he groaned and pulled me tighter against him. His hand slid down my back and gripped my butt.
His hand spanning wide, grazing me in my most intimate part.
My moan spurred him on even more as he spun us round and pushed me against the door.
I couldn’t get enough of him, of his lips, and definitely not his tongue.
He pulled back, his forehead resting against mine as we both panted for breath.
“I had to,” he pleaded.
He leaned back, his eyes scanning my face. I didn’t know what he was looking for, but he seemed to get the answer.
“What were you saying?” he asked.
I couldn’t remember my own name after that and he wanted to know what I was saying?
“About Max?” he prompted.
Shit. Max.
I opened my mouth but the lie wouldn’t come out. It had always been easy; they would flow out of my mouth without a thought.
Fractured Lies: Book 1 MAC Security Series Page 8